Caught on Tape! Best of '06

12/31/2006 8:00 AM PST

Caught on Tape! Best of '06

TMZ's biggest video of the year was Michael Richards' n-bomb heard round the world. Richards, famous for playing Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld," erupted with a racial tirade after some audience members started heckling the comedian's stand-up act. What came out of Richards' mouth was shocking and extremely profane, and led to the subsequent banning of the n-word from The Laugh Factory.

On a lighter note, 2006 saw the demise of Britney and K-Fed's marriage, and the unlikely pairing of the Britster with the one and only Paris Hilton. The two took Sin City by storm, with Spears partying so hard she lost her pants. Hey, at least she has something covering her no-no special place!Britney continued the panty parade by shaking her barely covered butt in front of a window at her 25th birthday party. Nothin' but pure class with this one.
Firecrotch. It's now an infamous term, and it started right here with Greasy Bear himself, Brandon Davis. The oil heir unleashed a torrent of nasty comments about Lindsay Lohan, while club-hopping Paris Hilton laughed with approval. The "firecrotch incident," has spawned several copycat outbreaks and even an official song, but nothing beats the original rant.Lindsay Lohan showed a whole different fiery side when she lashed out at one of our cameramen. After trying to sneak out of a Spazmatics show while escorted by bodyguards holding a sheet in front of her, Lindsay told our photog to "F**k off and die!" Real friendly Lindsay, thanks.Another celeb who was less-than-thrilled to be caught by TMZ cameras was Woody Harrelson, who became irritated with cameraman Josh Levine and asked him to stop filming. When Levine refused, Harrelson broke the camera and grabbed Levine's neck. No charges were filed.Aren't ambushes fun? TMZ obtained video of two PETA members confronting Beyonce at Nobu in New York City. The two won an eBay competition to dine with the star, who has a fashion line which uses fur. They ambushed her after placing their dinner orders. The PETA members pulled out a portable DVD player and began playing a tape of Pamela Anderson's attack on the fur industry, which highlights graphic footage of the process of killing animals for their fur. The look on Beyonce's face alone is worth a view.A hot model falling on the runway ... twice... with a bucket of water in her hand. Need we say more? It's Screech like you've never seen him and probably didn't want to. TMZ obtained portions of the "Saved by the Bell" star's sex tape. The tape begins with Dustin Diamond in a bathtub, narrating what's to come. It ends with him introducing one of the women to a "Dirty Sanchez." Ick!And finally, quite possibly the funniest/most pathetic video in our one-year history: Tara Reid being denied entrance to Hyde. The once-hot actress was shunned by the club's doorman as Paris Hilton and her new BFF, Kim Kardashian, sauntered past the velvet rope. You can practically see her heart breaking. Reid has since made it past the velvet rope, but she'll always be remembered as of of the first celebs to be denied from Hyde.